


i might be a prototype, but we're both real inside

by nifeandaccurate (12AM)



Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids, M/M, Romance, warnings for some body horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-02
Updated: 2016-01-02
Packaged: 2018-05-11 05:39:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5615866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/12AM/pseuds/nifeandaccurate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur is Project Somnacin, a military grade robot and the first of his kind. Yusuf is the one who steals him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	i might be a prototype, but we're both real inside

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on tumblr [here](http://nifeandaccurate.tumblr.com/post/112630817405/arthuryusuf-16) for velificantes and the prompt "Arthur/Yusuf, things you said with no space between us." Come find me on tumblr if you want to prompt something or chat!
> 
> I had a lot of fun with this one and I love writing robots, so there might be a not-quite-sequel in the works. :)

 

Yusuf presses his hands to the cold glass of the display. The plaque on the side says PROJECT SOMNACIN - A.R.T.H.U.R. (constructed in 2010, no longer in active use) He can see the veins in its eyelids and when he glances away he can almost see it breathing.

There’s _something_ lodged under his ribcage that feels a lot like want and he’s itching to shatter the glass and take the man underneath away from the fluorescent overhead lights and dirty linoleum floors. He’s tired of the Council breathing down his neck and asking for more compounds and faster, more potent, more lucid, more everything. There’s only so much he can do and he can’t spin nightmares into gold.

 

It builds up until he snaps. One night he calls an old friend and they tear through the building and pull out the counterfeit man from the ruins and they run.

It takes burning through two contacts and three days before its eyes blink open. Yusuf can’t help but feel like he’s witnessing the start of something miraculous. Like he should circle the date on the calendar and write _Man has discovered intelligent life_ next to it. He is watching the reawakening of the first PASIV device and it feels holy.

 

One day he stays in the warehouse later than usual, immersed in his experiments until the sun has gone down. When he blinks back into reality, there’s no one around and he decides he’s done enough for the day and starts packing up. A strange metallic click comes from behind a stack of lawn chairs and he freezes. Taking his handgun out of his open top drawer of his desk, he walks over to the source, gun held behind his back. When he peeks around the corner, he sees a familiar head of slicked black hair and he relaxes. He walks over to Arthur, who’s sitting on the floor, and slides down to join him. He sets the gun down beside him and peers at what Arthur’s doing. He’s pulled back the synthetic skin on his leg and opened up a panel, revealing circuitry and wires and is jimmying a small screwdriver in the exposed mess.

Yusuf clears his throat and gestures to Arthur’s leg. “May I?” He’s never been interested biology but the scientist in him is clamoring to peer inside the mechanics of this not quite human in front of him and figure out how he works.

“Of course,” Arthur says graciously, moving the screwdriver out of the way. He dutifully sits still as Yusuf shifts closer to examine him like a specimen pinned down on a microscope slide. And Yusuf knows that he shouldn’t be treating Arthur like this, he’s human too— well, not _exactly_ , but the principles are the same. He might be in the business of peddling dreams to whoever can afford them but he doesn’t want to mess this up. He doesn’t want to mess Arthur up.

Arthur shifts a little and turns to look at him. Yusuf senses that something is about to happen and gently untangles himself from the wires.

“Yusuf,” Arthur begins, looking unsure of himself, “why did you take me away?”

And he could be a bit cruel, he could bide for time and ask Arthur what he means but there’s nowhere for him to deflect to. He looks at Arthur and says with complete honestly, “Because you’re incredible. I couldn’t leave you behind glass.”

Arthur blinks and Yusuf wishes he could see the circuits firing and connecting inside his head. His fingers itch for a scalpel but he quells the urge.

“You like me for my machinery,” Arthur states. He doesn’t sound particularly upset by this fact.

“I do,” Yusuf confirms, tapping a finger on Arthur’s knee, “but I like you too.”

And it’s true. He’s fond of the tilt of Arthur’s head when he tries something new because he’s never backed down from a challenge and the way he takes a minute to fully come awake when he powers on and Yusuf’s _fascinated_ by all the tics and glitches that make him up. When they’re this close, Yusuf can see each his smoothed over synthetic skin and the circuit board behind his eyes.

Arthur smiles. There’s something pure and simple about it and Yusuf feels like he’s watching the dawn of a new era.

 


End file.
